Pasta Loves Shellfish Like McAdams Loves Gosling

Isthere anything more beautiful than shellfish on pasta? I don’t thinkso. Not even Hollywood couples. Now I realize that Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling broke up, and it was very sad, so that’s not a very sensitive comparison. Especially since roasted clams and linguine will love each other into eternity. But the point is that both couples look absolutely gorgeous together.

Bottom line, you should make this for dinner. Tonight. Yes, this is a “run, don’t walk” recipe.

Bon Appétit would like you to make these clams on the grill: an easy-to-do, easy-to-clean-up way to prepare clams. I’m sure it is, but I don’t have a grill. I do, however, have a great cast-iron skillet. I figured I could “roast” them in that, which would guarantee the clam juices did not escape from the clam shells or the grill.
I would like to take this opportunity to say that “clam juice” is oneof the grosser things I can think of. The clam “fluids” (even grosser,sorry) that are released in cooking are delicious, but I wish they werecalled something else–even liquor. Let’s call it “clam liquor”.

So. I made this dish in my stove, no Weber needed.

Whilereading the reviews of this recipe online I learned a really greattrick: Soak your clams in water (maybe even with a little cornmeal) toget them to “spit out” the sand that’s still inside the shells. Ialways scrub my clam shells and give them a thorough rinsing, but thismethod worked even better for ensuring a sand-less dinner.

Whilethe clams roasted in the skillet I heated the sauce. Oil, salt, lemon,anchovies, white wine, and parsley are combined and heated. I addedsome of the clam liquor that had collected in the skillet. The flavorof the sauce is great–very simple but rich, lemony and salty.

Ibought some “nice” (read: expensive) fresh linguine so it was ready tobe eaten after just a quick dip in boiling water. I tossed the pastain the delicious sauce and placed the open clams on the noodles.

As I said, run, don’t walk. A word of warning: This is avery lemon-forward recipe. You can pass sliced lemons along with thepasta, but I’d be darned if anyone squeezed them.